Combined scrubbing and polishing pad



June 7, 1966 1 D, CAUL ET AL COMBINED SCRUBBING AND PoLIsHING PAD Filed Aug. 10, 1961 3,254,357 COMBINED SCRUBBING AND POLISHING PAD Lawrence D. Caul, Buffalo, and Joseph R. ONeil, .Ir.,

Youngstown, N.Y., assignors to The Carborundum Company, Niagara Falls, N.Y., a corporation of Dela- This invention relates to surface maintenance pads, and more particularly to a new and improved pad for both scrubbing and polishing surfaces such as waxed floors.

While many types of pads have been employed for maintaining oor surfaces, they have certain inherent characteristics which limit their effectiveness and etliciency in the scrubbing and polishing of floors. The most common material used for such pads has been steel Wool, which has the undesirable characteristics of staining, rapid wear, poor strength, and rapid deterioration by oxidation as rust forms, particularly in the presence of water and wetting agents. In addition, steel wool has a tendency to throw the cleaning solution away from the rotary scrubbing machine, which substantially reduces the eflciency of the operation, and causes splattering and soiling of walls and baseboards.

Numerous attempts have been made to overcome these objectionable characteristics of steel wool pads by utilizing synthetic plastic fibers of either thermoplastic or thermosetting type. However, in themselves, the thermoset libers are too stiff and brittle for effective polishing action, while the thermoplastic fibers are too soft for scrubbing and tend to become depressed and take a permanent set when so used. Further, in order to provide the desired abrading action, it has been thought to be necessary to coat and/or impregnate such fibers with abrasive particles, which adds considerably to the cost of manufacturing such pads. addition of such abrasive particles has not produced any marked increase in the eliiciency and effectiveness of the polishing or scrubbing operations. In addition, such prior Moreover, it has been found that the United States Patent() 3,254,357 Patented June 7, 1966 ICC sectional view of the scrubbing side of the pad of FIG. 1,

' and illustrating the interrelationship of the curled animal hairs, the elastomeric binder and the thermoset resinous binder, and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 3 3 of FIG. 1, and illustrating by deeper shading the scrubbing side and by lighter shading the polishing side of the pad.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment of the inventive pad is generally indicated at 10. Such pad is preferably of circular configuration and is suitably die cut from a sheet of curled animal hair felt of open structure, i.e., with voids 11 between and among the individual hairs 12. Preferably, throughout the thickness of the felt pad, the individual hairs 12 are coated by a cured elastomer 13, which forms resilient globules 14 bonding the individual hairs at their intersections. In addition, the individual hairs 12 are further coated with one or more coats of a thermoset or heat-hardened vresin 15 which covers the elastomer and forms hard nodules 16 over globules 14. As will be apparent, such nodules 16 further bond the individual hairs 12 at their intersections. However, the resin is permitted to impregnate the felt pad 10 throughout only a portion of its thickness as best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 by the deeper shaded areas. As a consequence, the pad 10 is provided with a stiftr scrubbing side 17 which presents a scrubbing surface 18 characterized by hairs 12 which have been coated with a relatively hard outer resin forming art pads have usually been provided with only a single 'Y working surface or side, which further limits their usefulness tol either one or the other type of operation, and up to the present, no pad has been commercially produced which is equally effective for both scrubbing and polishing purposes.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved pad which is so conmore economical to manufacture than pads containing.

such abrasive particles.

Another object is to provide such a pad which utilizes the greater inherent resiliency and toughness of curled animal hair over synthetic plastic fibers, as well as the ability of such hair Vto recover its natural loft following removal of moisture by drying, as opposed to moisture impervious synthetic fibers such as nylon, which lack such memory.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a combined scrubbing and polishing pad constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention, and arranged with its scrubbing side uppermost;

FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged, fragmentary horizontal hard nodules 16 at the intersections of such hairs. It has been foundthat the combination of the inherently tough and resilient animal hair's 12 and the hard resin coating 13 and nodules 16 provides a most effective and efficient scrubbing surface 18, with the nodules 16 providing suicient aggressive action, thereby completely eliminating the need for abrasive particles formerly thought to be required.

At the same time, the inventive pad, 10 is also provided with a exible polishing side 19 indicated by. lighter shading in FIGS. 1 and 3 and which presents a polishing surface 20 which is relatively soft and resilient. Once again, it has been found that the globules 14 (which would be exposed in the polishing side) provide suticient aggressive action, whereas no abrasive particles are required for effective polishing action either.- In addition, it has been found that the underlying elastomeric coating 13 and globules 14 provide a resilient base for the hard and relatively brittle resin coating 15 and nodules 16, and this resilient base reduces somewhat the tendency of the harder, more brittle resin to wear unduly rapidly during the scrubbing operation. Moreover, by employing the curled animal hair fibers 12, as the resinous and elastomeric coatings wear away, and such hairs absorb moisture, they nevertheless have the inherent ability to recover their original toughness and resiliency after the moisture has been removed by drying. This characteristic o f the animal hair has a definite advantage over moisture impervious synthetic fibers such as nylon, which `do not have such memory.

A typical -application of the inventive pad involves placing the pad on a floor to be cleaned with the scrub-` bing surface 18 down in contact with the floor, and a scrubbing machine (not shown) provided with a Tampico fiber brush or the like (not shown) is then placed upon t i scribed above, but with the polishing surface 20 contacting the fioor to provide the desired polishing action.

A wide variety of animal hair is applicable for use in the inventive pad, but cattle, hog and horse hair including mane hair are preferred. Such hair is employed in a curled state, and the particular species listed are preferred because they provide the desired open felt structure, and possess the inherent toughness, resiliency and ability to recover such characteristics following drying. Likewise, various thermosetting or heat-hardening synthetic resins may be used as the bonding material for the scrubbing side of the inventive pad. Typical of such resins are phenolics, phenolics with acetals, urea formaldehyde, acrylates, expoxies, epoxy-polyamides and the like. In addition, various elastomers such as natural rubber, butadiene styrene polymers, butadiene acrylonitrile polymers, polyvinyl chloride and the like may be used as the binding material for the polishing7 side of the inventive pad.

Inasmuch as it is not necessary to employ abrasive particles in the inventive pad, there is no danger of scratching or marring the surface being worked on, especially when being cleaned during the scrubbing operation. In addition, the polishing side 19 has been found to be especially suitable for the bufling of harder waxes. By way of comparison, nylon which has been used for this purpose in the past, has been found to be satisfactory on the softer waxes, but does not give sufiicient buffing action on the harder waxes.

In manufacturing the inventive pad, it is preferred that the hair pad be sprayed or roll-coated so that it is impregnated with the elastomeric bonding material throughout its thickness. However, this is not absolutely necessary, as the thermosetting resin can be relied upon to bind the individual hairs together at their intersections throughout the scrubbing side of the pad. Even so, complete impregnation by the elastomeric binding material is preferred because it provides a resilient base for the harder and more brittle resin in the scrubbing side of the pad, for a softer scrubbing action and increased wear. of the scrubbing surfaces.

For most floor maintenance applications, the inventive pad will vary in thickness from about 3716 to about l, and in weight from about l ounce per square foot to approximately ounces per square foot, these values being given for a so called raw pad which has been impregnated throughout its thickness with the elastomer prior to application of the resin. Further, it has been found that a pad of about 5%1 nominal thickness and weighing about 3 ounces per square foot is a most effective scrubbing and polishing product.

The following example will highlight the present invention, and illustrate in detail a preferred embodiment thereof.

Example A 3%" thick, random-oriented air-laid pad comprising 20% by weight of curled cattle hair and 80% by Weight of curled hog hair was treated with an epoxypolyamide resin to provide a maintenance pad in accordance with the present invention. The raw impregnated pad had a weight of 3 ounces per square foot and the curled hairs thereof were coated and bonded together at their points of intersection by cured neoprene latex.

The raw pad was placed on a horizontal support and sprayed to a penetration depth of 9/16" with the following composition:

Parts by weight Diglycidyl ether of p,p'-isopropylidenediphenol 100 .Polyamide reaction product of an aliphatic amine and a monocarboxylic acid; having an equivalent weight of 90 and a viscosity at 77 F. of 15G-400 centipoises (Epi-Cure 855, a product of the Iones- Dabney Company) 50 Cil The resin composition was sprayed on the top side of the pad at a rate of about 0.33 pound per square yard. Thereafter, an additional coat of adhesive was applied at a rate of about 0.20 pound per square yard. After the second coating operation was completed, the pad was heated in an oven to a temperature of 250 F. for a period of about 8 minutes to cure the resin. Thereafter the pad was flexed to render it more flexible.

Penetration of the resin into the pad was controlled to leave a 7/1 portion uncoated at the base of the pad, which allowed this side of the pad to be used for the bufng of waxes as well as to provide a cushion to allow the pad to adjust to and effectively treat uneven floor surfaces during either scrubbing or polishing thereof.

The product displayed a most effective and efficient, yet velvet or sof scrubbing action when employed to strip old wax and soil from an asphalt tile Hoor surface in conjunction with an electric rotary floor treating machine employing a commercial oor cleaning detergent in water as the cleaning agent. Likewise, when turned over, the product was most effective and efficient in bufiing to a high lustre a hard commercial Wax applied to said floor by the aforesaid machine following rinsing and drying of the product.

It will now be seen how the invention accomplishes its various objectives, and the numerous advantages possessed by the inventive pad will also be apparent. While the invention has been described and illustrated herein with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the invention by those skilled in the art without departing from the inventive concept, the scope of which is to be determined by the appended claims.

We claim:

l. A cleaning pad which consists of an open, porous felt of randomly arranged, curled animal hair, the individual hair fibers of said felt being bonded throughout said pad at their points of intersection by a cured elastomer, said pad having a stiff, scrubbing side in which the individual hair fibers are coated with a thermoset resin which also covers said elastomer and provides a further bond for said fibers at their points of intersection, said thermoset resin extending through only a portion of the thickness of said felt, and a flexible side free from said resin formed by the remaining portion of the thickness of said felt, said pad being free from abrasive throughout its thickness.

2. A cleaning pad as set forth in claim 1 in which said curled hair consists of a mixture of curled cattle hair and curled hog hair.

3. A cleaning pad as set forth in claim 1 in which said elastomer forms resilient globules at the intersections of the curled hair fibers and said thermoset resin forms hard nodules over said globules only in the stiff, scrubbing, side of said pad.

4. A cleaning pad as set forth in claim 3 in which said curled hair consists of a mixture of curled cattle hair and curled hog hair.

.5. A cleaning pad as Set forth in claim 1 in which said elastomer forms a coating over substantially all of the curled hair fibers as well as bonding them at their points of intersection and said thermoset resin further coats the curled hair throughout the thickness of said scrubbing side.

6. A cleaning pad as set forth in claim 5 in which said curled hair consists of a mixture of curled cattle hair and curled hog hair.

7. A cleaning pad as set forth in claim 5 in which said cured elastomer forms resilient globules at the intersections of said curled hair fibers and in which, in the scrubbing 'side of said pad, said thermoset resin forms hard modules over said globules.

3. A cleaning pad as set forth in claim 7 in which said curled hair consists of a mixture of curled cattle hair and curled hog hair.

9. A cleaning pad which consists of an open, porous felt of randomly arranged, curled animal hair, the individual hair bers of said -felt Ibeing bonded throughout said pad at their points of intersection by a cured elastomer, said pad having a stii, scrubbing side in which the individual hair bers are coated with an epoxy resin which also covers said elastomer and provides a further bond for said bers at their points of intersection, said epoxy resin extending through only a portion of the thickness of said felt, and a eXible side free from said resin formed by the remaining portion of the thickness of said felt, said pad being free from abrasive throughout its thickness.

References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 2,232,945 2/ 1941 Hately. 2,526,468 10/1950 Frye 15-210 2,803,577 8/1957 Colt et al 156-588 X 2,958,593 11/1960 Hoover et al. 15-209.5 2,972,554v 2/1961 Muskat et al. 154--54 X` -3,171,151 3/1965 Sickle et al. 15-2095 FOREIGN PATENTS 181,389 3/1955 Austria.

OTHER REFERENCES Article in Plastics Technology, July 1957, vol. III, No. 7, page 579.

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner. S. JAMES, CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Examiners. 

1. A CLEANING PAD WHICH CONSISTS OF AN OPEN, POROUS FELT OR RANDOMLY ARRANGED, CURLED ANIMAL HAIR, THE INDIVIDUAL HAIR FIBERS OF SAID FELT BEING BONDED THROUGHOUT SAID PAD AT THEIR POINTS OF INTERSECTION BY A CURED ELASTOMER, SAID PAD HAVING A STIFF, SCRUBBING SIDE IN WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL HAIR FIBERS ARE COATED WITH A THERMOSET RESIN WHICH ALSO COVERS SAID ELASTOMER AND PROVIDES A FURTHER BOND FOR SAID FIBERS AT THEIR POINTS OF INTERSECTION, SAID THERMOSET RESIN EXTENDING THROUGH ONLY A PORTION OF THE THICKNESS OF SAID FELT, AND A FLEXIBLE SIDE FREE FROM SAID RESIN FORMED BY THE REMAINING PORTION OF THE THICKNESS OF SAID FELT, SAID PAD BEING FREE FROM ABRASIVE THROUGHOUT ITS THICKNESS. 